H-1B FY2011 Update

April 29, 2010 – U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it continues to accept H-1B nonimmigrant petitions subject to the Fiscal Year 2011 (FY 2011) cap. USCIS will monitor the number of petitions received for both the 65,000 general cap and the 20,000 U.S. master’s degree or higher educational exemption.

USCIS has received as of April 22, 20210 approximately 16, 025 H-1B petitions counting toward the 65,000 cap. The agency has received approximately 6,739 petitions for individuals with advanced degrees.

USCIS will provide regular updates on the processing of FY 2011 H-1B petitions. Should USCIS receive the necessary number of petitions to meet the cap, it will issue an update to advise the public, that the FY 2011 H-1B cap has been met as of a certain date (the “final receipt date”). The final receipt date will be based on the date USCIS physically receives the petition, not the date that the petition has been postmarked. The date USCIS informs the public that the cap has been reached may differ from the actual final receipt date.

Employers should continue to review their employment needs and determine whether any foreign national employees will be requiring H-1B visas. This is extremely important where employers are planning to hire foreign nationals who will soon graduate from U.S. universities. While many of these individuals may already have an employment authorization card, employers may still have to file an H-1B petition for them to ensure that there is no gap in their employment eligibility. Some categories to consider include foreign workers employed pursuant to F-1 Optional Practical Training (OPT), TN status or J-1 status.

NOTE: The H-1B cap does not apply to foreign nationals who already hold H-1B status and are seeking to change their H-1B employer and/or extend their H-1B stay in the United States.

Please contact our office if you have any questions about this communication.